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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · wound · chip · cold · dip · chest · scale · pitch

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chip — to eat
  7. scale — in music
  8. chip — for betting
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitch — completely
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wound — an injury
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. chest — a box
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com